1992, Reconsidered
Top 50 Albums of 1992:
1. R.E.M. - Automatic For The People
2. Dr. Dre - The Chronic
3. Jonathan Richman - I, Jonathan
4. Gang Starr - Daily Operation
5. Kool G Rap & DJ Polo - Live And Let Die
6. They Might Be Giants - Apollo 18
7. Paris - Sleeping With The Enemy
8. UGK - Too Hard To Swallow
9. Peter Gabriel - Us
10. Screaming Trees - Sweet Oblivion
11. Izzy Stradlin & the Ju Ju Hounds - Izzy Stradlin & the Ju Ju Hounds
12. Ice Cube - The Predator
13. PJ Harvey - Dry
14. Sonic Youth - Dirty
15. Alice In Chains - Dirt
16. Faith No More - Angel Dust
17. "Weird Al" Yankovic - Off The Deep End
18. The Jesus Lizard - Liar
19. Tori Amos - Little Earthquakes
20. Lord Finesse - Return Of The Funky Man
21. Nine Inch Nails - Broken EP
22. The Cure - Wish
23. Beastie Boys - Check Your Head
24. Neil Young - Harvest Moon
25. Vic Chesnutt - West of Rome
26. En Vogue - Funky Divas
27. Shudder To Think - Get Your Goat
28. Annie Lennox - Diva
29. Mary J. Blige - What's The 411?
30. The Pharcyde - Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde
31. various artists - Singles: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
32. Nirvana - Incesticide
33. Sloan - Smeared
34. Pavement - Slanted And Enchanted
35. Television - Television
36. The B-52's - Good Stuff
37. Morphine - Good
38. Mudhoney - Piece Of Cake
39. Soul Asylum - Grave Dancers Union
40. various artists - Wayne's World: Music From The Motion Picture
41. Blind Melon - Blind Melon
42. The Afghan Whigs - Congregation
43. Alice In Chains - Sap EP
44. Primus - Miscellaneous Debris EP
45. Spiritualized - Lazer Guided Melodies
46. Stone Temple Pilots - Core
47. various artists - Reservoir Dogs: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
48. Eric Clapton - Unplugged
49. Ugly Kid Joe - America's Least Wanted
50. Def Leppard - Adrenalize
1992 was kind of year zero for my active interest in popular music, the year I turned 10. I had started to dip my toe in in late '91, but in '92 I started watching MTV obsessively and spending what little money I came into the possession of on CDs -- the first CD I bought was the fucking Wayne's World soundtrack. I mostly bought embarrassing stuff back then: (the very odd set of albums on this list that I actually heard in '92 or '93: 1, 9, 11, 15, 19, 21, 24, 36, 39, 40, 41, 44, 46, 48, 49 and 50). Contrary to the usual theories about nostalgia and coming of age, very little of these albums hold any really serious sentimental value for me, and more and more over the years I've found other stuff from that era that I enjoy more, which makes up the bulk of this list.
Looking ahead to the 1991 list I'm still working on, as well as the '93 list I did a few weeks ago, I'm increasingly convinced that 1992 was kind of a weird dry spell in the middle of an otherwise fertile period, when a lot of great acts were either between albums, or dropped albums that weren't as good as the ones directly before and/or after. It's notable that nearly all of the rock albums that felt huge in 1992 were actually released in 1991. I do like the weird combination of wussy college rock and some of the hardest rap records ever at the top of the list, though. I actually somehow lived through the '90s without ever hearing The Chronic in its entirety, and since it's no longer sold anywhere I guess due to some Death Row bullshit (although Doggystyle is still out there, weirdly), I had to listen to it track by track on YouTube and wow, it's actually better than I expected.
Top 100 Singles of 1992:
1. Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth - "T.R.O.Y. (They Reminisce Over You)"
2. Matthew Sweet - "Girlfriend"
3. Mary J. Blige - "Real Love"
4. A Tribe Called Quest f/ Leaders Of The New School - "Scenario"
5. Metallica - "Sad But True"
6. Nirvana - "In Bloom"
7. En Vogue - "My Lovin' (You're Never Gonna Get It)"
8. Sir Mix-A-Lot - "Baby Got Back"
9. Right Said Fred - "I'm Too Sexy"
10. Black Sheep - "The Choice Is Yours (Revisited)"
11. Screaming Trees - "Nearly Lost You"
12. Helmet - "Unsung"
13. Annie Lennox - "Walking On Broken Glass"
14. The Beastie Boys - "So What'Cha Want"
15. Boyz II Men - "It's So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday"
16. Soul Asylum - "Somebody To Shove"
17. Temple Of The Dog - "Hunger Strike"
18. Snap! - "Rhythm Is A Dancer"
19. U2 - "Even Better Than The Real Thing"
20. Ozzy Osbourne - "Mama I'm Coming Home"
21. Bonnie Raitt - "I Can't Make You Love Me"
22. Red Hot Chili Peppers - "Breaking The Girl"
23. Peter Gabriel - "Digging In The Dirt"
24. Alice In Chains - "Them Bones"
25. "Weird" Al Yankovic - "Smells Like Nirvana"
26. Arrested Development - "Tennessee"
27. Prince - "Diamonds And Pearls"
28. TLC - "Ain't 2 Proud 2 Beg"
29. 10,000 Maniacs - "Candy Everybody Wants"
30. Vanessa Williams - "Work To Do"
31. R.E.M. - "Man On The Moon"
32. Metallica - "Nothing Else Matters"
33. U2 - "One"
34. Smashing Pumpkins - "Drown"
35. Pearl Jam - "Evenflow"
36. Guns N Roses - "November Rain"
37. En Vogue - "Free Your Mind"
38. Nirvana - "Lithium"
39. Wreckx-N-Effect - "Rump Shaker"
40. Nine Inch Nails - "Wish"
41. Eric B. & Rakim - "Know The Ledge"
42. Gang Starr - "Ex Girl To Next Girl"
43. Michael Jackson - "Jam"
44. SWV - "Right Here (Human Nature)"
45. XTC - "The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead"
46. INXS - "Not Enough Time"
47. EPMD - "Crossover"
49. Das EFX - "They Want Fx"
50. 2 Hyped Brothers And A Dog - "Doo Doo Brown"
51. The Black Crowes - "Remedy"
52. King Missile - "Detachable Penis"
53. Technotronic - "Move This"
54. K.D. Lang - "Constant Craving"
55. The Sugarcubes - "Hit"
56. Shabba Ranks - "Mr. Loverman"
57. Chubb Rock - "Treat Em Right"
58. Van Halen - "Right Now"
59. Pearl Jam - "Jeremy"
60. Mariah Carey - "Make It Happen"
61. Cracker - "Teen Angst (What The World Needs Now)"
62. Dr. Dre f/ Snoop Dogg - "Deep Cover"
63. Metallica - "Wherever I May Roam"
64. Paul Westerburg - "Dyslexic Heart"
65. Ice Cube - "Wicked"
66. Prince - "7"
67. Spin Doctors - "Jimmy Olsen's Blues"
68. En Vogue - "Giving Him Something He Can Feel"
69. The Lemonheads - "It's A Shame About Ray"
70. Tears For Fears - "Laid So Low (Tears Roll Down)"
71. Body Count - "There Goes The Neighborhood"
72. Jodeci - "Come And Talk To Me"
73. TLC - "What About Your Friends"
74. Faith No More - "Midlife Crisis"
75. Michael Jackson - "Remember The Time"
76. Genesis - "I Can't Dance"
77. House of Pain - "Jump Around"
78. Kriss Kross - "Jump"
79. The Pharcyde - "Ya Mama"
80. The Spin Doctors - "Little Miss Can't Be Wrong"
81. Guns N' Roses - "Garden Of Eden"
82. Red Hot Chili Peppers - "Suck My Kiss"
83. Prince - "My Name Is Prince"
84. Live - "Pain Lies On The Riverside"
85. Madonna - "Deeper And Deeper"
86. George Michael - "Too Funky"
87. 2 Unlimited - "Get Ready For This"
88. Brooks & Dunn - "Boot Scootin' Boogie"
89. The Soup Dragons - "Pleasure"
90. Ugly Kid Joe - "Everything About You"
91. Marky Mark And The Funky Bunch - "Wildside"
92. Blind Melon - "Tones of Home"
93. Digital Underground - "Kiss You Back"
94. CeCe Peniston - "Finally"
95. Guns N' Roses - "Knockin' On Heaven's Door"
96. U2 - "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses?"
97. Sophie B. Hawkins - "Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover"
98. Red Hot Chili Peppers - "Under The Bridge"
99. Def Leppard - "Let's Get Rocked"
100. Sonic Youth - "100%"
Where I'm kind of ambivalent and unenthusiastic about the albums I heard in 1992, I have to say I feel a lot of visceral affection for singles from that year. As I said, it was the beginning of my infatuation with MTV and popular music, both of which had seemed like the biggest waste of time in the world to me a year earlier. The alt-rock hits, the novelty pop hits, the gangsta rap, there was such a wealth of different tones and styles all colliding in that moment, before things kind of settled into more clearly divided camps in the following years.
89. The Soup Dragons - "Pleasure"
90. Ugly Kid Joe - "Everything About You"
91. Marky Mark And The Funky Bunch - "Wildside"
92. Blind Melon - "Tones of Home"
93. Digital Underground - "Kiss You Back"
94. CeCe Peniston - "Finally"
95. Guns N' Roses - "Knockin' On Heaven's Door"
96. U2 - "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses?"
97. Sophie B. Hawkins - "Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover"
98. Red Hot Chili Peppers - "Under The Bridge"
99. Def Leppard - "Let's Get Rocked"
100. Sonic Youth - "100%"
Where I'm kind of ambivalent and unenthusiastic about the albums I heard in 1992, I have to say I feel a lot of visceral affection for singles from that year. As I said, it was the beginning of my infatuation with MTV and popular music, both of which had seemed like the biggest waste of time in the world to me a year earlier. The alt-rock hits, the novelty pop hits, the gangsta rap, there was such a wealth of different tones and styles all colliding in that moment, before things kind of settled into more clearly divided camps in the following years.
This entry was posted
on Saturday, October 06, 2012 at 8:36 AM.
You can skip to the end and leave a response.
Post a Comment